The town that gave Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore a substantial majority in 2000, voted two-to-one for Republican gubernatorial candidate Mitt Romney, who won by five percentage points across the state. Carlisle also supported all incumbents running for re-election — all Democrats — except register of probate John Buonomo (D) who received 13 fewer votes than challenger John Lambert (R).

The town gave a strong "no" to Question 1, which proposed to eliminate the state income tax; "yes" to English immersion; and "no" to taxpayer supported campaigns. 57% voted to instruct the state representative to vote against Thomas Finneran for speaker of the state House of Representatives.